<p>I am looking for some direction on how to help prepare my HS freshman son for the future. He took the 9/13 ACT (one month into freshman year) we just received his scores (E-34, M-34, S-32, R-32) so it definately appears that he will be a canidate for a select college when the time rolls around. (FYI, His 7th grade ACT composite was a 29)</p>
<p>Problem is, I have no idea what I need to help him with to prepare for the application process.</p>
<p>He is already taking all honors classes (all A's so far) and will be taking AP when it is available to him. He is active in band and church and volunteers in the summer at the local library, so his EC's are getting a reasonable start.</p>
<p>Is this a good enough start to believe that he will be perpared for the process? What other things/areas should I get him to start thinking about?</p>
<p>Any help/suggestions will be welcomed. We did not need to consider this type of question with his older sister so I do not have any experience in this area. </p>
<p>Sounds like he's off to a great start. Basically, just make sure he continues to challenge himself in his classes, and that he continues to be involved in the community, purusing ECs that are of interest to him. You could look into some summer programs which may appeal to his interests.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. We have looked into some of the summer offerings in the past but have either not been able to fit them into our schedule, or, not been able to get him interested. He seems to think that it would be too much like school during his vacation time. I guess we will try again next year to see if we can find something that gets him excited.</p>
<p>Summer jobs or volunteer work are also worthwhile ways to spend the summer. You don't get a 9 week vacation in the summer - why should he? Every college application asks how you spent your summers. He sounds like he's on a good track. He should explore some extracurricular activities and can narrow them down as he finds out which ones really interest him.</p>
<p>If he really enjoys the summer volunteering at the library, he could expand on that as a summer (or year-round) activity. He might talk to his supervisor and see if he can start a story group for kids, a tutoring group, a fund drive for the library, a project to provide books to a class of first graders at a nearby school... lots of possibilities. (That is not just for the library, I just used that as an example of taking what you enjoy, and finding ways to do more in that area.)</p>
<p>Following his interests and expanding on them showing passion, initiative and leadership is a great start. Try not to push him towards activities or summer classes JUST because they "would look good" on a college application. Your idea of waiting until he finds something that gets him excited is excellent!</p>
<p>OP - You (meaning y-o-u, not him) might begin thinking about WHAT makes a particular type of elite college your S's best option. Does he want to hang with rich bluebloods? Solve technical problems in groups? Develop alternative energies? Write the great american novel? (I could go on, but you get the picture.) The resume your S would need for Wesleyan is a lot different than the one he needs for CalTech. Yes this journey is about your S, but he would benefit greatly from a guide who can help him fulfill his ambitions. Good luck, and enjoy the journey!</p>
<p>It all depends on his future profession. I have no knowledge about admission to elite colleges, we did not consider them because of cost and absence of Merit scholarships. However, D. was very interested in very selective programs that required certain activities and preparations in HS. D. took care of them and currently is in one of this programs.</p>
<p>Memphis Dad - my thoughts are rather politically incorrect in this day and age. And to some extent they are borne from my own experience, where I had zero parental support in high school and college and certainly would have been shocked if anyone cared about my academic performance in 8th grade. I was not a victim, but actually far happier than many of my peers because my decisions in college and grad school were entirely my own - poverty was not an issue because I was young and very much liked having things on my own terms - not that I had any choice, mind you. </p>
<p>With a son like yours, I would not necessarily focus on the academics (he is bright enough to do extraordinarily well), but rather on inculcating mental toughness, discipline and a fierce sense of independence from Mom and Dad. While it is highly unlikely that your son would ever fit into this category, the significant number of failures to launch (and some are very bright) I see in my reasonably well off neighborhood are in my mind attributable to parents that smothered these kids and never truly expected independence and mental toughness. This of course doesn't mean you don't support him, but a very bright kid (and that is your kid) when infused with a sense of independence and accountability is not a kid that you have to worry over.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You don't get a 9 week vacation in the summer - why should he?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Gee, I dunno, maybe...because he's 14?</p>
<p>Kids deserve to be kids. Give the poor guy a break during the summer. No, he shouldn't be marinating at home all summer, but he should be doing what HE enjoys. College adcoms will be able to tell if he's just doing stuff to pad his resume.</p>
<p>To all replying posters....
Thanks for the thoughts and direction. The diversity of the responses have pointed out a number of issues/possibilites that will need to be explored.</p>
<p>I truly thank each of you for taking the time to give me (and my son) some things to consider.</p>
<p>To mam1959. Don't worry so much about the political correctness of your statements. Personal experience is always something that needs to be shared. Even if the message is not as "nice" as some others.</p>
<p>OP, thats a very impressive resume for freshman year (i may even be a little jealuos i wish i could do that even now haha)...however dont lose sight of the fact that in college, you wont be behind him like you are now. Its his freshman year of HS, watch him and make sure he continues on his path to success...this is coming from a HS senior who has had his parents overprotect him and completly let off, so i know the difference coming from a kids point of view...
let him loose a little bit, he needs to start doing things on his own and for himself, if he's as bright as you say he is, he'll have no problem figuring out the college process 3 years later. believe me if you see some of the kids get through this process you wouldn't be worrying. However, like what mam1959 said, the kid needs to be ready for the outside world. that means parents not doing everything for him, that means handling his social life with his academic life the way he thinks it should be. if you start to see him slacking, correct him. but let him learn from his OWN mistakes.<br>
Unfortunetly, in this day in age there is alot of nepotism. Its a hard fact in life, its who you know not as much how smart you are. The kid should learn how to interact with others and learn strong social skills that will help him. If he goes to Harvard and emerges Valodictorian with a major in business, i garantee he wont be successful if he cant even carry out a full conversation with people he doesn't know...
Encourage him to meet new people and become friends and live a normal (HEALTHY) high school life. that means mistakes and everything.. if he develops these skills, he willl be able to write his own ticket to success...i GARANTEE it</p>
<p>HisGrace- I agree with you. Let the kid have some vacation! Yes, colleges ask how you spent your summers and sitting under a tree reading is a perfectly acceptable answer for a high school kid. Training for one's sport or driving across the country with your parents are other acceptable answers.</p>
<p>If you read a variety of threads you will see that a lot of the ultimate success of these kids relates to how they adjust to being away from home and parents, etc. in college, the degree to which they can deal successfully with drugs, alcohol, sex when "on their own" and their own drive and motivation to do well academically when the parents aren't there to "assist."</p>
<p>You might want to work on things that enable a young person to handle these things. You will see that it isn't just getting into some "fabulous" college, it is about being able to thrive once they get there. </p>
<p>Since it is doubtful your student will get "dumber" no matter what he does from now on, work on emotional maturity and being grounded in positive things and values.</p>
<p>Hey if your really looking for a good thing to do during the summer, do something crazy (but safe). Go on ATV's in a canyon somewhere, zipline down a forest. For my college essay, i used half of it to describe how me and my dad took a speedboat and sailed around Key West and how we went farther than the map that we had (we were going to try to go to Cuba but it would be too much unknown). lol, colleges LOVE when u can say you did something adventurous AND have the grades to improve it. Plus these things are great (if your into them). Try one out, i know a friend who skydived and wrote his entire essay about how he took teh leadership role and jumped first out of a plane 15000 feet above the ground. those are the essays that willl attract the admissions office</p>
<p>If your son is already achieving at this level as a 9th grader, are you having worries about exhausting local education options locally?</p>
<p>Looking forward to his Junior and Senior years, you might consider the Tennessee Governor's Academy at UT. They take only a few kids a year (highly competitive) and have a well balanced curriculum with full access to some of the best academics on campus and in Oak Ridge.</p>
<p>It is a controlled environment a short distance from campus where he can get the adjustment to living away from home while well supervised.</p>
<p>In addition to such stellar grades, schools look at EC's (extracurriculars). Is he in a sport? Band? Doing volunteer work? In any clubs? Interested in working toward being an Eagle scout? The job thing isn't important in Freshman and Sophomore years - it's more important in Junior and Senior year. </p>
<p>The schools that he will be interested in will require a face to face interview, so working on those skills is important, too.</p>
<p>Lastly, and I'm adding this as a general statement - not in response to anything you've written - guide him but make sure he's making his own decisions. I have seen some parents try to mold their stellar students and the kids arrive at college unable to make any decisions without checking with their parents first. (such parents are referred to as 'helicopter parents') </p>
<p>The comments and direction offered have all been valuable. These give us something to think about and work on during the next year or so as we wait for the overall picture to "clear up" a bit.</p>